15 Habits of Great Writers

Tweet Sometimes it's easy to fall into the trap of saying "I'm a writer...but what now?" Well we all need to keep working on improving ourselves (see my post on continued professional development for writers) and I've decided to devote the next few weeks to working on Jeff Goins' 15 Habits of Great Writers program.

I stumbled across it through my Google Reader, and we're now onto Day Two. Day One was simply an affirmation - a chance to say "I am a writer". I know that some people have problems with admitting this, possibly believing others will think writing a frivolous waste of time, or worrying that others might dismiss their ambitions. I'm quite lucky that I've been writing for so long that it's firmly entrenched in who I am - both in terms of my sense of self, but also my 'persona'. Everyone who knows me knows I'm a writer, and I usually get introduced to other people as being a writer, so telling people what I do is quite straightforward. But here, just to benefit from the repetition...

I am a writer.

There. It's online so that makes it binding.

Day Two is all about belief - something with which I often struggle. Belief implies blind faith in something, and I'm the type of cat who appreciates empirical evidence and tangible proof. Jeff wants everyone to get up two hours early and do nothing but writing. Now, I get up at 6:30 for work, and there is no way I'm getting up at 4:30, particularly since I often don't get to sleep until well after midnight. He says "this is how you know you really believe something". Well I disagree on this point, but I WILL be building an hour of writing into my day. I can't see the point in waking myself up early to write when I know my brain won't be working yet, and I'll just stress about it if I find I can't achieve it. So I'll be making the task more achieveable by tailoring it to fit how I work.

I won't be blogging my progress on a daily basis, but I'll try to keep you updated as to how I'm getting on. Why don't you join me?